Shards of the Netsphere
by MattieTaylor
Summary: The Netsphere is being attacked. For a few months explosions have already hit several maps almost rendering them unplayable. Kohaku is on the case. Will she be able to catch the bad guy(s) in question or be caught up unexpectedly?
1. Chapter 1

With a revolver in hand I edged toward the door. Seven bullets were all I had in it before I had to reload and I wasn't wearing a top with a faster reload chip encased. I had to make these bullets count.

But the revolver wasn't the only weapon I had. My submachine guns were strapped around my waist. I had my trusty Bloody Spy Dagger too but that was mainly for speed and emergency cases when I had ran out of ammo.

Bladecity was a place where you wouldn't want to be. The streets were wide which meant there was little cover and the obvious places for cover were… pretty obvious. Apart from the random boxes where the vendors would restock their shops, there were two walls right in the centre. It wasn't just the limited amount of cover either. Most of the shops offered Sigma and the Katana in a variety of shapes and colours. Enemies on the run could just blow things up and get the right weapon. You had to be permanently on your toes when you entered the map, especially when it was night, like it was now. Shadows cased an eerily atmosphere.

Of course, I couldn't use any of those weapons. Being an old player I would rather the weapons that were already around before Bladecity was opened to the public by Chopper in Season 3.

I was on a mission. Lately there was a number of buildings around the Netsphere that kept being destroyed for whatever reason. And it wasn't just limited to modes. The shed in DM's version of Neden-3 had fallen a few weeks ago - I suspected this was the first test as there hadn't been a similar incident before then. After that it was one of the trains in TD's Station-1, and again with Station-3. With the stations out of commission, no one could commute. The maps themselves were nearly out of use had it not been for the invisible barrier protecting players from their missed jumps from falling on the wreckage. All you need to do is figure out with some trial and error the limits.

"Can you see anyone?" It was Heiliger's voice in my earpiece. Despite his knowledge of DM maps, I was drafted to scope the map. He was my decoy. Bladecity was a popular place to go for weapons and Heiliger, with some planning, had set up an event for the players to gather as many of them away from the city as possible. If this sigma shop was going to blow up, I did not want anyone around when it did.

I poked my head. The shop was closed. Glass from the cabinets glistened with what little light there was. I could just make out a regular shop colour sigma in a cabinet on the wall, the till and a display cabinet right next to it. No one was there as expected. That didn't mean my guard was down.

"No." I paused, resting my back against the shop wall as I looked up at the cloudless night sky. "What happened to the event? Aren't you supposed to be busy?"

I heard him exhale. "Just taking a break. Someone else is covering for me."

I grinned knowing he couldn't see it. "You need every minute."

Just then light appeared in the corner of my eye, coming from inside the shop. I hurriedly whispered for Heili's benefit, "wait something's happening." I stepped further back but kept my eyes on what was happening. I didn't have to worry about them seeing my shadow as I was in a narrow alleyway, a place where the sun didn't shine.

Before me, the light came from the till. Rather than it coming from the ceiling, the light was drifting upwards so there must have been a hallway going underground. A person came into view but I couldn't get a good look at the face. I had to admit I was a bit annoyed about that.

The person was laughing so hard he was doubling over. With the help of the underground light I made out a pair of submachine guns and a blue handgun around his waist. He was still talking between bursts of laughter, facing the source of the light but I couldn't _see._

"Heili, got anyone here with me?"

"No."

 _Damn. It would be nice if someone followed that guy._ I watched him recover as he made his way to the entrance, disappearing into the night.

"You might have to make it quick though," Heiliger said. I froze as I heard someone in the background talk to him. I supposed he was covering the mic since I heard mumbling. "The event is coming to an end."

"Get here though." I said.

"On it."

I opened the doorway enough for me to squeeze through. The underground hallway was still open so I sneaked up to it, checking no one was following me, checking no one was coming to give me a friendly hello.

As I peered over the glass counter, I saw a set of stairs making its way downstairs.

I described the man who left to Heiliger and then the staircase. The plan we made was that I would go down first and find out what the craic was. Heiliger, when he got here, would stay near or in the shop to be the lookout. Since we were low on members he'd also be acting as my support. And I honestly felt like I need it.

"Go." Heiliger said. "I'm in the map now."

"Right." I nodded then held my revolver tighter, padding down the staircase as quietly as possible.

I didn't see any cameras. There was a long drop down to God knows where. Heck, in my nine years playing the game, I didn't know there was an underground map? Tunnel? Whatever this was underneath Bladecity.

All I could hear were my footsteps echoing and the sound of my controlled breathing.

"Alright." I jumped shocked at hearing Heiliger louder than he should. "I'm in front of the shop. Let me know if you need me."

"Aye." I whispered.

When I finally reached the bottom, I was met with a set of double doors that looked worn. Rust had gotten to them. The paint that was once there was chipping away covering the floor. It looked like someone had been here though, the paint on the floor had been disturbed, scattering away from it

One door was open. This room was lit too.

"You need to place it here." A man said.

"I am but it keeps falling off!" That was a female voice.

"Careful! Do you know how fragile these are?"

I held my breath as I tried to make out what I was hearing. The room in front was large and primarily made from concrete with supporting pillars from ceiling to floor that ran alongside the furthest wall. I made out two figures with their backs to me doing something to a pillar.

"There!" The female said in triumph. She took a step back admiring her work. Both were dressed in black.

The male was grinning. "Once this is done, we can disappear for a bit!"

In the gap between them I saw a bomb. And now just any bomb. A destruction bomb. Similar skins of the earth bomb were tied to the pillars.

 _Well this is just great._

"I don't think I'll let that happen." I said with as much authority as I could. I pushed open the door aiming the revolver at both in turn.

They turned around, shocked. But in a split second-

Something orange just missed my stomach as I dodged the first attack entering further into the room. Seconds later the other was in the air with a plasma sword taking advantage of the delay spy dagger had after a strong attack. I abandoned the revolver, grabbing my own dagger to jump to cancel the incoming stun.

"HOLD IT!" The man yelled. I froze. His partner did to. "If we fight here, we'd all be killed."

"As far as I know, I wasn't the one who was placing bombs to blow up the place." I said, tightening my grip on the dagger. Mine had a forcepack stat with at least eleven percent more power than the original, cheaper shop bought version. His dagger though, could be the same as mine or lower. It was the same with that plasma sword. I hoped I had the power advantage.

"As far as I know we weren't being followed." He replied.

I narrowed my eyes. "The way I see it, you have two options. One is turn yourself in and explain why you were placing bombs in Bladecity and how this is related to the previous attacks-" I received a snort in response. "Or, I can kill you and send you back to spawn where my lovely team mates can arrest you and put you on a worse charge purely because you didn't like the first." There wasn't anyone there but they don't know that.

The female looked at her companion. I think she had already made her mind up but needed his approval. Unfortunately for her, he was shaking his head. "I don't have a choice anymore. It's do this or get killed." Then he started running at me, halfway switching to a Counter Sword-

The next moment was a blur it happened that fast. I had only pieced it together because of deduction and my experience.

Just as he jumped with his Counter Sword, a bright blue light pierced through the doorway hitting and stunning him. It was quickly followed by chains who bound him head to foot causing him to fall on the floor in a heap. As for his female partner, she didn't have any time to realise what had happened when Heiliger burst through the doors with a Rail gun in both hands to knock her unconscious over the head. She was bound a few seconds after.

"Well." I said stowing my dagger away. "I don't want to be on your bad side."

Heiliger grinned. "I doubt you could." But after a beat he said, "maybe you would if you keep giving me pug pictures daily."

I pouted. "Pugs are cute." I turned to the bombs on the pillars and tried not to imagine what would happen if Heiliger had missed and hit the bomb. Like this the whole building and all of us would have been sent straight to spawn.

"What are we going to do with you?"

Heiliger put his Rail gun away in the bag around his back. "I'll have to report this."

"To a GM?" The man said in a tone that was half laughing and half mocking, wiggling around to face us. "They do nothing."

"Heili, you missed knocking him out." I said in the most monotone voice I could manage fighting the frustration in me at his words.

"I think I'll let you do it."

I grinned cracking my knuckles before punching him so hard his eyes rolled up into his head.

When I looked up, Heiliger was in a call. "Yes, DM Bladecity… Hatsu and I are still here… No, we're letting you know now... Okay. Thank you." He sighed as he ended it. "I took screen shots so all we need to do is get rid of the bombs. That was Tamino just now, she's going to put more pressure on the case."

I grinned before getting my dagger out to carefully tear off the tape that secured the bomb in place.

Once freed, a pop up told me the bomb was a forcepack stat but only lasted for a few hours. "These guys," I indicated to the nappers, "got these from Random Fumbi." I showed the pop up to Heili. Random Fumbi was a small shop in the centre on the Netsphere that offered an array of timed weapons or clothes you could try out for almost nothing. There was a small chance you could get something permanent which was probably the reason why people rolled. Once paid, you'd get a random weapon or clothing depending on your gender. I never would have thought people would use the weapons like this.

"I wonder if we show him these two faces, if he'll remember."

Heili shrugged. "It's worth a try."

I picked off all the bombs off, "I like free weapons though."

"Even if they're not permanent?"

"Even that." I said putting them in safety mode. This way I can run around with them without worrying about them exploding. "Have you seen this place?"

Heili took a long look around. I did too.

Apart from the pillars the room was windowless. The only way in and out were the staircase we had descended. It was pretty empty. This place wasn't on the Bladecity map.

Heili shrugged, "No. Maybe it was supposed to be on the map but the devs scrapped the idea?"

It does have a unfinished feeling about it…

I cracked my knuckles again. At least I wasn't the only one who didn't know about this.

There was only one more thing to do. I knelt before the unconscious girl and started patting her down. To my shock she was wearing a black Silklace outfit, something you had to buy in the shop with a timed duration or be lucky and win an event. I think it was possible to get it from a GM wish…

It wasn't long before I found her other weapons - the blue Plasma Sword, an orange dagger and a purple bat. All of these were PEN stat. I was right. I would have the power advantage over this one.

I didn't stop there either. The poof of the skirt revealed two rather large hand held mirrors encased in a silver frame and matching handle.

I waved these at Heili who took one to look at. "I've never saw these before. I'll have to add it to the report."

He had checked the guy out. I didn't know many male clothing but this guy wore a Basic-M t-shirt in black. The pants were padded. I knew the item but not the name. I didn't know you could get it in that colour…

"They're hacking their gear too." Heili said.

"Eh?" Looking down I gave the Silklace another closer look. Hexagonal patterns appeared and disappeared all over their outfit for a second as if it wasn't integrated correctly.

"Great." I checked the bombs to make sure but they seemed to be legit.

"Hatsu, come with me to Central, okay?" I straightened to find Heili's eyes locking with mine.

"It's not like I have a choice." I said shrugging.


	2. Chapter 2

As I left the sigma shop, a raccoon started following me. Short and full of fluff, it matched my walking pace with ease. Amazingly I heard some reports of it being a bug or a glitch in the world but what they didn't know was that it was actually Extrabios in her disguise.

"Extra!" I crouched down to her eye level. "Why are you a raccoon?"

"I'm hiding." She stopped to sit on the side of the next shop as we hadn't walked far. This shop was a katana shop selling a bunch of skins. "Tamino wants you at Central. Bring Heili along."

"Hey!" I froze, my head shooting up to see who called out. It was a person who was staring at us. "It's that raccoon!"

"I have to go now." Extra said awkwardly before she scurried off into the night.

Central was a large round room that hosted the main hive of activity for the game. Nine large doors formed half of the room with the modes available for the players from there they could pick how they wanted to play, choose how large they wanted their room from a minimum of four people to sixteen depending on the map and the map. One was frosted over. The rumour was that this was going to be a Christmas event hence all the ice keeping it closed.

Right in the centre was the canteen area complete with a row of stalls that ran around the circumference from a number of countries - American, a few Asian dishes and a handful of Eastern European.

On the other half was a room for volunteers - Game Sage or GS for short - like Heili and the main offices for the GM team. There was a floor to ceiling window but there wasn't much to look at, it was the same as what you would see through the window of Chaser's Office map - a bland landscape full of hexagonal shapes with a gradient from an evening sky orange to a deep hue of purple. A city was seen in the distance but it was too far to make out any detail as to what it was and why it was there since the early days of the Netsphere.

Random Fumbi was on that side. I thought we were going to pay him a visit but instead Heili took me upstairs to the main office which was restricted access for the public. You couldn't pass through the entrance without a written consent or if you have on the spot permission to enter.

I hadn't been here in a while. Not since I left.

Once there we overlooked the canteen area. It wasn't until recently there was much to interfere with though. The recent explosions meant there was an increase of people knocking on the office door asking what happened despite there being an official statement out already.

Heili typed in the code to enter, inviting me in with him.

We had just came straight here. With the names of the man and woman in hand there was no need to keep them bound. Since Heili had their guilty names down to the right capitals, asterisks and all that jazz, all he had to do was pass on their sorry names for a GM to deal with them.

The place hadn't changed at all. As the entrance was on the second floor, we were on an open plan landing. Mesh made up the floor beneath our feet with supporting panels and was finished with railing so you don't accidently fall of the edge for whatever reason. Straight in front was a floor to ceiling window with the same view that was outside of Office. There wasn't much on this floor.

Descending the stairway was the main living room. On the left side wall was a flat screen TV with two sofas and a small coffee table set up in a right angle facing it. White furniture made the space feel modern despite how old the Netsphere was.

Adjacent to the empty landing was the kitchen, silver countertops holding everything you would need for an experience baker or cook. Red cabinets alongside the walls brought colour and character to the place. A breakfast bar separated the two rooms whilst keeping the space together.

There were also rooms for meetings which ran parallel like a hallway alongside the left wall.

When I was still a member, pugs ran around the place. So much it was probably why Chopper who had been a GM for S4L up until recently, offered to be on Ironsight.

Tamino appeared from one of those meeting rooms. Despite the time - which I assumed was early in the morning - she was still up and waiting for us despite Heili's call to her.

"Hi Pugino." I grinned. I loved my pug nicknames for everyone. Everytime someone would join the team I would immediately think of how I could pug them.

"Hi Hatsu."

"It's _Kohaku._ I'm not Hatsu anymore!" I pouted.

"Or fish." Heili shrugged. But he had a massive grin plastered on his face.

"HatsuKoi is _one_ word!" Why do people split the two words up? Just because 'koi' can mean fish too...

Tamino sat on a stool leaning against the breakfast bar. "So, any breakthrough with this?"

I shook my head. "It looked like they were going to set off the bombs under the sigma shop but I wouldn't know for certain until I spoke with them." I had put them on my block list so I could look at their profile and see where they were. Right now, they had split up. The man, Steven was in DM's Construction. The female, on the other hand, Rachel, was in TD's Highway. Frankly what happened just now was the only lead we had on this case.

When the maps were looked into after they had been bombed, there were no clues left. There was just _nothing._ I was still part of this voluntary team at the time and the minute I had stepped into any affected map, players plagued me with questions. " _What's happening?", "Who's doing this?", "Are the devs going to do something about the bombings?"_ Similarly feature style discussions kept popping up such as "Is the Netsphere going to be getting a new map as a consequence of this?" It was all over the Monthly Netsphere, now happening on a weekly basis, a need now considering the recent incidents.

"I also need to talk to Random Fumbi."

Tamino frowned. "I think Heili must have missed that part out."

I explained why he was involved. She looked up in thought. "I think I'll talk to the devs in removing the bomb from his random generator at least temporarily."

"Players might get it from the shop." Heili added. "If removing that is an option you might have to remove it from the shop. Granted, it won't be as powerful but community safety is a priority."

I was nodding throughout. "An announcement should be made too regarding the removal linking it to the incidents."

Tamino sighed. I could tell what was running through her mind. _What about players who have a permanent version already?_

"For now, I'll talk to the devs. I'll see what they think and act accordingly. In the meantime, talk to those guys involved. Oh!" she leaned forward. "Don't forget to give me the names of the two you found. Also wasn't there something about a mirror?"

Heili did what she said. I continued, pulling out the mirrors out for her. "Yeah, I've never seen this before."

"I'll ask some people on it." I already had someone in mind for it. Tamino nodded saying she was going to do the same thing and with nothing else to talk about, we left it at that.


End file.
